Professor spared £8,557 fine on library book overdue by 47 years

Would taking a tougher stance on this have been away of buoying up the financial pressures facing local libraries in this area? This article tells us about a professor who owned up to having kept a book a little longer than he should have it reveals:

Professor Foster told The Independent the discovery was something of a mystery. He said: “I had been a fan of Clough’s, whom I had always thought of as an underrated poet overshadowed by Whitman, Browning and others, but I had left Queen’s by that time and was at the University of Oregon as a doctoral student.

“I saw that it also had a stamp saying that Queen’s had obtained the book in May 1921 so it was definitely their book and it was 47 years late, so outrageously overdue. “Fines from the McClay Library are 50p per day for their seven-night loans so I was looking at a steep bill. As the Americans say: ‘You do the math!’”

Queen’s said it was pleased to get the book back and would not be looking for Professor Foster to stump up the £8,577.50 fine.